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I personally am not a great fan of spring reverb. It is an old, pretty crude design that works well, but sounds little like actual reverb.

There are lots of pedal reverbs that are excellent. I bought a cheap Behringer pedal reverb years ago...not long after they first came out. I was using a couple rather expensive rack reverbs with my Mesa Dual Rectifier. I actually liked the cheap Behringer better, and still love it. It's a cheap knockoff of an older Boss Reverb.

Many newer pedal reverbs are based on Belton reverb "brick" modules. The early bricks were preset decays, long, med or short. The newest are smaller and have adjustable decay. These are available for DIY builders and are used in many "boutique" reverb pedals. (Amplified Parts and AES carry the Belton "bricks", I believe.)

Depends on the tank and then pedal...and what sound you're going for.
For example, hard-core surf players will tell you that a stand-alone Fender Tank Reverb unit is a must.

Me, I have a Digitech Hardwire RV-7 pedal that has Lexicon reverb algorithms and I think it's better than any amp reverb I've heard. Certainly more tweakable.
And it'll even do the splashy surf thing, which a lot of digital reverbs fall short on.

As Steve said, there are a lot of really good-sounding reverb pedals out there, today.

If you have a vintage amp and the reverb is not plingy and splashy, try this:

Remove the screws that secure the bag to the bottom of the cab, carefully disconnect the cables, and remove the reverb unit from the bag.

Flip the unit over and inspect the springs. Chances are good there are spider webs and other insect remnants interfering with the springs.

best way to clean them is with a very soft paint brush. Gently brush off each spring its entire length. Inspect the coils for bug stuff inside the springs too.

Treat the springs gently because their connections at each end are extremely fragile.

Gently blow out all dust bunnies and spider egg sacs, slip the tank back in the bag, hook it back up ('reverb send' to IN and 'reverb return' to OUT), screw the bag back in place, and try it out.

I've seen some reverb tanks from amps that were stored in damp basements that had rusted springs. No fix for this, and replacing the springs is akin to nerve splicing (not kidding). It's much easier to replace the entire tank. They run ~$25 or so.

Antique Electronics (sponsor above) is a great source. Call 'em and they can match the proper tank to your specific make/model/year amplifier.

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